Protest, Revolution and the Albert Hall

1968

Revolution Worldwide

It was the year of love, protest, revolution and rock’n’roll—1968.  In the United States revolutionary movements like the Black Panther Party emerged from the civil rights movement.  The Democratic Party Convention that year to select a Presidential candidate degenerated into anarchy.  Opposition to the Vietnam War gained momentum in the U.S and all over the world, including Australia.

Anti-Vietnam War protest, Sydney University

In Paris students linked up with a general strike of ten million workers called by the trade unions, and for a few days in May it seemed as if the French government would fall.  Protestant-Catholic strife exploded in Northern Ireland.  The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China was in full swing.  Widespread protests in communist Czechoslovakia led to a brief period of liberalisation—the Prague Spring—and then renewed repression as armies of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to “restore order”.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour other recording artists were scrambling to record a “concept album” of their own; or to branch out into new directions, like movies.

Meanwhile, back at high school in Sydney

The high school students of St Aloysius College, Milsons Point in Sydney were not immune to these momentous events.  A group of good friends produced their own student magazine, the Pitt St Times—named after the street in which the school was located—to bring the spirit of revolution to the school. 

The student of St Aloysius College join the global revolutionary movement, or so we thought.

These boys at St Aloysius had, by 1968, been together for several years.  They were neither the cool dudes of the class, nor the geeks.  Just somewhere in the ordinary middle.  .  But they did have a burning desire to play their part in changing the world.   Our fervour lasted exactly one issue.

The best of friends, early 1968 in their school attire, Sydney Opera House in the background.

Back Row: Danny, Simon, Mark, Emery.  Front Row: Allard, Felix, Paul

Everyone's doin' music and movies

But after their foray into publishing the Pitt St Times this group of friends knew that the next step was to launch themselves into music and multimedia (although that wasn’t a term you ever heard in the sixties).

Psychedelic Mark & Simon

With a remarkable lack of imagination—and more than a small nod to their heroes, the Beatles—they came up with a new name, Albert Hall Liberal Skiffle Group (AHLSG), as the vehicle for the group’s talent. They also got generally “groovy”.

The AHLSG recorded their own concept album and several short movies for which they roped in many of their wider circle of friends.  There was just one small problem:  musical talent was in short supply.

Danny was the least talented of all.  But being his best friends, no one actually said anything to him.  Danny did notice that in the recording studio he was never given anything more sophisticated to play than a tambourine or a washboard.  Even then Danny couldn’t keep the beat if his life depended on it.  But that’s something he already knew from his earlier attempt at music, driven by his dad, Ivan.  Danny was, however, able to make more of a contribution to the group’s movie-making efforts as cameraman and editor.

Turns out the world was not ready for Albert Hall after all

Regrettably AHLSG did not take off.  Half seriously, half as a joke Mark sent a demo tape into a local record company, RCA, who replied politely along the lines of “don’t call us we’ll call you”.

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By 1969 the group’s dreams of fame were fading.  A key member, Simon, had left Australia to return to his home in the U.S. and the pressure of the looming Higher School Certificate exams meant the rest of the boys didn’t have much time to devote to outside distractions.  But before it all ended group members did manage to record their life stories posterity in a “this is your life (so far)”-style book.

Still, 1968, a great year for schoolboy revolutionaries and wannabee musicians.  And this group of friends still stays in touch more than forty years later.

Simon ffitch and Daniel at Simon's home in Seattle when Daniel visited him in Dec 2008.  Simon has kept his copy of the classic AHLSG photo in his den for the last 40 years 

Albert Hallers reunion, February 2014.  L to R: Paul, Mark, Emery, Danny